What is a “great” Income to you?

[Chocstrawberry1]

In the UK, of course depending on where you live, what would you say is a great income if someone told you theirs?

I used to be on £65k before kids and I used to think anyone getting over £60k is on a great income (outside London). Now, with the CoL going sky high, I think a great income is anything over £70k.

I know the average is £25-35k but what would you think is a great income?

Maybe £250k+ in dividends? I hate working and hope that Agent Millionaire comes to visit me soon one day.

Great income for what?

I'm not sure the average is £25-35k any more, after all NMW is almost £25k.

A great income for one role would be vastly underpaid for another.

Plus there's all the variables around location, family size, one or two earner households, stage of life etc etc.

Also that some people simply make their money go a lot further than others. One person's fortune is another person's pittance because the amount they spend on food and drink away from home, phones/broadband/streaming services, groceries, clothes/grooming, travel/cars, hobbies/holidays etc etc varies enormously such that one person could be spending hundreds of pounds a month more than another with little noticeable difference in lifestyle.

Probably £120k

Yeah context is key. I think I’m on a great income at £75k as I WFH, own my diary, have no line management responsibility, very little stress, flexitime, excellent pension and other good terms, but I’m a civil servant and know senior civil servants on the same salary as me but leading large teams with a lot of stress and less flexibility, I think £75k is rubbish for that.

100k

150k

These days 75k. I’m on 45k and it doesn’t feel great 😅

At least 100k

I noticed a huge difference when I went from £35k to £48k but that was before kids.

A couple of years later I jumped to £67k but had to leave that job because it was too stressful. Took a £13k drop to move to what I thought would be a more easy going industry. Had our first child and we really struggled with all the childcare bills and we did some house renovations just as my wife fell pregnant so over committed a bit.

Worked my way back up to £69k but again the stress was just too much.

I'm now on £75k in another industry but oversee only one project rather than multiple projects so a bit easier to focus. I think I am on a fantastic salary.

But I think a great salary is anything over £50k here in Glasgow, but if you have kids it might not go that far. I work with someone a little younger who still lives with their parents and they earn the same as me, they are absolutely rolling in it of course. So the same salary has different outcomes even though we work together.

I’m n 55K NW- I think a good salary here would be£75K-80K however it’s all relative

Good question. I tend to think 100K+ but that’s very arbitrary really.

Do you just mean salary though? There are other ways to generate income and passive income obviously has huge pluses, especially if you also have caring responsibilities.

What us your role and grade? The thing I hate most about the civil service is the expectation that every promotion comes with yet more line management responsibility.

>100k for an individual.

Plus £100k wouldn't buy anywhere near what MN sees as a 'good' lifestyle of a period family home with a bedroom for each child and a home office or two in a naice area with either a SAHP or good childcare, cleaner etc, £1000+ pm Ocado bill for unlimited organic protein and blueberries, electric car lease etc etc. I think I costed it up at about £200k+ some years ago so obviously much more now.

£30k

This is a perpetual problem. Plus the expectation that the only way to progress is to hop from job to job, meaning expertise in specialisms is lost. I've managed to get to about £56k without line managing, but won't get any further and it's been a long time coming. So we lose a lot of staff to places that pay more before they get where I am.

Well what you need it for changes things.

If you have a large mortgage or rent ( normal now in even small properties), then £20-30k a year min is just on housing. £24k would be a £2k mortgage.

If your rent is tiny or your mortgage free, you could earn £25k less and have the same left as someone else

£150k would be good imo. That would mean reasonable housing costs covered. No worry about childcare fees. Annual holiday. Food not super budget for.

I was thinking >100k per individual, so £200k per household.

Probably at least £200k for household income.

I’m on a similar salary and line manage 2x people. The next grade up in my team manages 7 people and the increase in salary is quite small, especially considering the additional responsibility that the role comes with.

"Great income" isn't just about where you live, it's about your household.

I have a "great" income. My colleagues, earning more or less the same, probably don't think it's that great. I'm single, no kids. They are families.

Good - £60k
Great - £175k+

Twice the average for your region.

I think a nuclear family needs at least £20k a month cash to live a proper high life and more if you’re in London.